Improvement in mechanical keys and sounders for telegraphs



n. L. PARKHUR S T.

Mechanicai Key and Sounders for- Telegraphs. N0.143,298, Patented September30,1873.

I Vitnesses I I i UNITED STATES PATENT ()rrron.

DAVID L. PARKHURST, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MECHANICAL KEYS AND SOUNDERS F OR TELEGRAPHS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,298, dated September 30, 187 3; application filed August 1, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID L. PARKHURST, of San Francisco city and county, State of California, have invented an Improved Telegraphic Key-Sounder; and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanyin g drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to an improved telegraphic key-sounder, which is cheap and simple, and will serve equally as well as the more expensive apparatus for teaching the .telegraphic alphabet and the manipulations required to write telegraphic sounds.

In order to more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my keysounder. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the plate.

A represents the base board or block. Upon the upper face of this block I secure a plate, b, from one end of which two studs or standards, c 0, project vertically. D is a lever, one end of which is pivoted between the standards c 0, while the opposite end is provided with a button, 0, in the same manner that an ordinary telegraphic key-lever is made. This lever can be made of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and is provided with two downward-projecting lugs, ff, one of which extends downward from the pivoted end of the lever, while the other is between the pivoted and free or button end. A thin sheet of metal, h, (steel preferred,) has one end secured horizontally in the lower end of one of these lugs, and extends across to the lower end of the other one, its opposite end being placed loosely in a narrow cut or groove in the end of the lug. A button or other rest, 9, is firmly secured to the middle of the metal sheet h, so as to provide a fulcrum for the lever to rest upon. Between the button 9 and free end of the metal plate I make a thin spot or indentation, i, midway between the opposite edges of the sheet, so that when the extremity of the lever is forced up and down this thin spot will buckle back and forth and produce a clicking sound, similar to the clicking of an ordinary telegraphic key-sounder. A hole or slit might be made in the plate instead of the thin spot, and the same clicking noise produced. Either end of the plate may be fixed, while the other is free, or both may be fixed. In some cases the metal plate can have its ends secured in a suitable frame, as above described, and a vertical stemior rod, provided with a button on its upper end, can have its lower end secured tothe middle of the plate, so that the stem will serve as a vertical key for operating the plate. The manipulations required to produce the clicking sound are just the same as those required to operate an ordinary telegraphic key, so that this arrangement, being simple and cheap,

will be a great aid to persons learning tele- Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The piece of sheet metal h, with its thin spot or indentation i, or equivalent vibrating point, combined with and arranged to be vibrated by a lever, D, and button or rest 9, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal.

DAVID L. PARKHURS'I. [L. s]

Witnesses:

J OHN L. Boom, O. M. RICHARDSON- 

